Johnson Lauds Deadly Duo

Saturday, February 20th 2016

Lee Johnson was full of praise for Bristol City’s new-look front two as Jonathan Kodjia and Lee Tomlin combined to deadly effect at Stadium:MK.

Kodjia had been nursing his first noticeable goal drought in a red shirt before the trip to struggling MK Dons, but opened the scoring from Tomlin’s cross at a crucial time in the dying moments of the first half – his first in the Championship for 11 league games.

Confidence restored, the Frenchman doubled his tally for the day to take his season total to 12 with an excellent finish from Joe Bryan’s perfectly weighted pass on the hour, firing City eight points clear of the drop zone in the process.

“I thought we were very good,” head coach Johnson told Bristol City Player HD. “We were structured, we were organised and the players pressed really well.

“We’ve worked really hard on the triggers of our pressing – when we go (to press the ball), to make sure we go together as a team.

“Even I was wondering what Tomlin was doing there. I think he must’ve had an energy gel about five seconds before because he got a turbo boost from somewhere!

“He shut two men down and they gave it away. And when he gets the ball on the edge of the box, you know he will pick someone out.

“It was another excellent performance from the front two, Tomlin and Kodjia, and it’s fantastic for him to get his two goals.

“He (Kodjia) had that look in his eye before the game. He’s quick, he’s bright and when the ball gets played over the top, you do fancy him to go and finish.

“He’s doing really well and I’m really pleased with him. He’s been taking in the tactical stuff and I’ve been getting the translator to send him text messages of things he needs to do, because it’s all about understanding your job role.

“But it’s difficult to single people out because it was a really good away team performance. In my opinion, we thoroughly deserved it.

“There’s still a bit more to do in terms of that assuredness and quality in possession, but I think we had many more shots than them and we kept going for it.

“Even when it was 2-0 and you think ‘it’s a relegation battle, are we going to sit off?’ we kept going and limited them to very few opportunities.”